Chains That Bind
by angel0wonder
Summary: Satsuki did not expect her mother to give her a present for her birthday, least of all in the form of a slave with a red streak in her hair. AU with Ryuko as a slave.


Not even Satsuki's iron will was enough to keep her lip from curling up in disgust at the sight before her, and she once again cursed her mother for forcing her presence here.

Gamagoori silently offered her a handkerchief, presumably to cover her mouth and nose because of the smell in this place. She politely declined the item since the source of her disgust did not come from the literal smell of sweat and feces. It stemmed from the sight of human beings, dirty, bruised, and naked, being paraded and displayed like pigs for the benefit of potential buyers.

An arm slithered around her stiff shoulders and a mouth pressed against her ear. "Happy birthday, Satsuki," her mother whispered in her perpetually pleased voice. "Go pick out a plaything."

Satsuki suppressed the urge to shrug her mother away from her person. "Thank you, Mother," she murmured, eyeing the slave blocks. She had expected her mother to ignore her birthday much like every other year. Satsuki herself had forgotten about the date, though everything that concerned her personal affairs had taken a back seat to putting her plans in motion. Then her mother had surprised her with an outing to pick up a "gift" for her eighteenth birthday.

The place she was brought to was a prominent slave house by the coastline. Satsuki abhorred slavery in every aspect, but she wasn't so stupid as to reject a "gift" from her mother. The timing was simply not right. Slavery was merely one of the many rotten things circulating within the lifeblood of her already diseased country. Though she was royalty, she believed in earning the respect and loyalty of her subjects, not buying them.

However, her mother, the queen, used slaves freely. She often times treated her daughter like she owned her as well, and Satski hated the feeling. Ragyo may have power over her body, but she could never own Satsuki's spirit and ambitions. Another reason to detest the concept of slavery.

But here she was, now having to choose among bodies for her personal property. She wasn't quite sure where to begin, or what she would be looking for. Certainly not an object for sexual gratification, as her mother had implied. Thanks to the aforementioned woman, Satsuki had little appetite for matters of physical desires. The most likely prospect would be some sort of assistant for one of her loyal companions. Once her mother lost interest, she could release the slave so that they may carve out their own fate with their own hands.

Foregoing the obnoxiously rowdy auction for young girls going on in front of the large warehouse-like structure, Satsuki instead ventured inside, her large bodyguard following closely behind her. Ragyo and her attendant also followed, but the queen seemed to be having fun checking out the merchandise, lagging behind as she decided to "test out" a particularly well-endowed slave.

The slaves were all lined up from wall to wall, chained to posts sticking up out of the ground. Most of them were mostly naked, with their hands tied up in front of them and a price tag hanging around their necks. Satsuki looked into each of their faces as she walked past, but none would look her in the eyes. Judging by the slavers walking up and down the lines with whips in their hands and the welts that covered some of their backs, they've been encouraged not to. Even if she could look into their gazes she suspected their eyes to be devoid of spirit and hope.

After the fifth row of observing the hollowed shells of the people before her, Satsuki considered asking Gamagoori for his opinion when her attention was snagged. She stopped short in front of one of the slaves for one reason only- they were glaring right at her.

Leaning against her post was girl that she could only guess was around her age, though she had no way of telling from how thin and malnourished she looked. She was using her tied up hands to cover her nakedness as much as she could, though she still managed to level a heated gaze at Satsuki.

The taller woman calmly held her gaze, noting that there was not only a spark of life in her bright blue eyes, but they were absolutely burning. Satsuki broke their connection to glance down at the price tag hanging around the girl's neck. The previous price had been scratched out, replaced with a scribbled discounted number that was unbelievably cheap for this business. Satsuki could venture a guess as to why as she took in the numerous bloody marks, both fresh and old, that adorned the girl's back and front. She was probably the most scarred slave Satsuki had ever seen.

Taking an interest, Satsuki once again met the girl's gaze. "What's your name?" she asked in a smooth voice.

When she was addressed, the slave twitched as if surprised, but more turbulent anger washed it away. "Fuck off," she snarled gutturally, only to yelp loudly when a whip snapped out to make contact with the backs of her thighs.

"Could somebody get a bag and put it over this piece of shit's head?" shouted the slaver that delivered the blow. He bowed his head at Satsuki. "Apologies, my lady. This one is a savage from the east islands. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't have a name."

Satsuki glared at him, the pointed stare making his cocky demeanor falter and he obediently fell silent without her having to say a word. She rested her hand on the hilt of her sword before she relieved him of the weight of her gaze.

Her mother had recently conquered the east islands. Though 'conquered' was too nice of a word. There was hardly any resistance when Revoc's armies laid waste to that country, burning the land and killing most of its resident's. Any survivors ended up being packed like rats and shipped overseas to be the playthings of their tormentors. Prisoners of war; if war was what you called Ragyo's blatant flaunting of her power over the world.

The dark haired slave was now kneeling on the ground, hissing through gritted teeth at the new injury. Satsuki felt her mother finally catch up to her, stopping next to Satsuki and looking down at the girl as well. "Well, what do we have here?"

The slave visibly went rigid at the sight of the new pair of heels in front of her vision. Her blue eyes traveled up Ragyo's statuesque figure until she was making eye contact with the current queen of most of the world.

"Has this one struck your fancy, Satsuki?" Ragyo asked in amusement as she brushed her daughter's hair off her shoulder.

"Perhaps," Satsuki answered vaguely as she kept her eyes trained on the scrawny figure before her. The slave seemed to be emitting a low growling sound as she stared at Ragyo. Her body was trembling and her fingers slowly reached out to grasp at the pole her chain was attached to.

"Should've known you had a taste for the wild ones," Ragyo chuckled, leaning in close to Satsuki's ear and purring, "I'll remember that."

Her personal space being invaded and her senses going to suppressing unpleasant shudders distracted her for a split second; a split second where the slave before her suddenly ripped the pole out of the ground and made a dive for Ragyo, the sharpened end of the pole pointed at Ragyo's neck.

Gamagoori started moving, but he was standing a few too many steps away to intercept in time. Satsuki could only imagine the smug smirk on her mother's face and knew the sharp end of the pole would most likely end up in the girl's neck.

The girl's war cry barely left the confines of her dry throat before the hilt of Satsuki's sword buried itself into her abdomen. Her body folded over the weapon, her eyes bulging from the force and speed with which the air was knocked out of her. The pole dropped from her hands and she crumbled to the ground. Her body heaved uselessly since she couldn't summon the strength to drag air back into her lungs.

After a few painful moments her chest spasmed and she finally managed to cough and hack as if her guts were trying to come up. And yet she still managed to glance up at Satsuki, who was standing over her, wondering if the princess would kill her here and now. She only caught an unrecognizable gleam in Satsuki's gaze before she was kicked in the face by the princess.

Satsuki didn't give any of the slavers, or Gamagoori, or her mother time to interfere. She repeated her kick across the girl's face, blood spraying from her mouth, before slamming her heel down onto the slave's head, pinning it to the ground. She put her weight on her foot, grinding down mercilessly in her act. Ragyo watched her with an approving look.

"I'll take this one," Satsuki said in a low voice.

Gamagoori rumbled in disapproval near her. "My Lady, I do not think-"

"I'll take _this one_," Satsuki repeated in a firmer tone that brooked no argument. The tone she used was more than enough punishment for Gamagoori, who fell silent in his shame of questioning her.

The girl grunted in pain under her shoe, and Satsuki stepped on her harder. "Allow me teach her what it means to lift a finger against you, Mother." She looked back at Ragyo, eyes hardened. "It would be my pleasure."

Ragyo's smirk widened. "She's yours to do with as you please."

Satsuki lifted her foot from the girl's head, making the slave recoil. Eyes flashed furiously at Satsuki before three slavers were on her, shoving her down and forcing a bag over her head. She struggled weakly as the men dragged her away, presumably to chain her to Satsuki's carriage and force her to walk all the way back to her home.

The princess swiftly turned on her heel and briskly walked out of the stench of the slave house, new plans for her new slave already at work in her mind.

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A/N- Yoooo, dunno if I'll continue this. It was more of a vague concept I felt like writing out with no real planning behind it. Well, like most of my fics, I suppose, but this one more so. I'll probably post chapters as I think of them.


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